ask questions before you buy?

[joannm]

I would love to see some other potters come to the party as I am not getting anything else done , other than making pots.
HOWEVER !!! PLEASE please please ,
you ask so many questions on how to do your plants , what to cut, what to , what to and what to ???????
but you are not asking questions about people who have never made bonsai pots," what they are doing ?".
a large proportion of potters who sell at markets and studio work , make earthenware low fired pots. this is not good for bonsai. Nor is Raku .

you may find yourself loosing that pride and joy you have nurtured .
due to the pot retaining too much moisture and cracking because of this,
or under watering cause the pot doesn't retain water .

suggest you do some googling , read comments from around the world

a potter is not a bonsai potter until they have the answers to the Q's.

joann

[shibui]

These are very good points Joanne. Because we are not potters and do not understand clay or firing we just don't know that there are even issues let alone the right questions to ask

I have a vague awareness of the problems arising from low temp fired pots because I have a couple that I have made or found or bought and I know from experience that it is dreadfully hard to keep trees healthy in them - too porous so they dry out far too quickly so I have stopped putting bonsai into those pots. I have also heard others commenting that some cheap Chines bonsai pots are too porous as well - not fired correctly?

Maybe you can find the time to elaborate a little on the possible pitfalls of bonsai pots from a potting point of view? I, for one, would value your expert advice.

[MoGanic]

Wow never even thought to ask any of these q's.

I guess the next logical question would be, if I've bought a bunch of pots how do I tell whats good and what isn't without putting trees in them?

Cheers,
Mo


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Rory]

Wow never even thought to ask any of these q's.

I guess the next logical question would be, if I've bought a bunch of pots how do I tell whats good and what isn't without putting trees in them?

Cheers,
Mo


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Oh pleeeease. That is easy. Put a crappy tree in it, and if it dies, then don't use the pot in future.....question owned!
Seriously though...don't know whether its a co-incidence but I did have cheap crappy pots that I bought when I first started in the late 90's that I bought from a well known bonsai nursery, and some of them did seem to retain moisture more than others, so I binned them thinking they were jinxed. I now have many pots from a few well known experienced potters on here and I've never had a problem with them in hindsight.

[rodm]

Ok, so what are questions we should be asking?
Cheers Rod

[Ray M]

I would love to see some other potters come to the party as I am not getting anything else done , other than making pots.
HOWEVER !!! PLEASE please please ,
you ask so many questions on how to do your plants , what to cut, what to , what to and what to ???????
but you are not asking questions about people who have never made bonsai pots," what they are doing ?".
a large proportion of potters who sell at markets and studio work , make earthenware low fired pots. this is not good for bonsai. Nor is Raku .

you may find yourself loosing that pride and joy you have nurtured .
due to the pot retaining too much moisture and cracking because of this,
or under watering cause the pot doesn't retain water .

suggest you do some googling , read comments from around the world

a potter is not a bonsai potter until they have the answers to the Q's.

joann

Hi Joann,
Thanks for raising this issue. I too would love to know a lot more about this subject. If you could put a list of questions together, that would give a guide as to what to look for, would be really helpful and I for one would be most grateful.

Regards Ray

[kcpoole]

Maybe we can compile all the info and add / update the Wiki here
https://www.ausbonsai.com.au/wiki/index. ... Bonsai_pot

some info to get
what makes a good Bonsai container?
shapes
clay types
firing temps
surface finishes

What type / shape of trees suit what type of pots

From the Wiki this thread was found too which answers a lot too, viewtopic.php?f=29&t=8580

Ken

[Jason]

Tickle me curious also

I'd love to know how to tell the difference between a quality, and a not-so-quality bonsai pot

My judgement goes as far as "Oh, that looks nice"

[kcpoole]

I am the same Jasonc
I have hep Japanese pots and also some Chinese ones. I have no idea why they are not premium pots?

[Pup]

Tickle me curious also

I'd love to know how to tell the difference between a quality, and a not-so-quality bonsai pot

My judgement goes as far as "Oh, that looks nice"

I was taught by an old friend whom had a bonsai nursery in the Perth area many moons ago. At that time it was the only Bonsai specialist nursery in the state.
Having that honour, he was allowed to buy from all pot sellers as there was no competition.
He wanted to know the same how to tell quality from crap.
What he was told was quite amusing it entailed a certain act of putting ones tounge on the surface of the pot, gently and feeling for the draw on the tounge.
I laughed too then on the QT tried it.
I have pots that I know are quality and also not so and using this method, it does work have I proven this to myself.
So after saying this you all wish to have a laugh here they are . It does work. Cheers Pup The bottom of the glazed one
We still need to ask at what temp it was fired? is it stoneware or terracotta. Is it porous?, not needed in Australia but will it crack if frozen ( unless you are in the mountains where you get frozen out)
Cheers Pup

[Nate.bonsai]

Absolutely. I lick everything before I buy. White goods, trees, automobiles, pets... Perhaps the secret was that he got a discount because no one wanted to buy after he got to first base with a pot...

[Jason]

Tickle me curious also

I'd love to know how to tell the difference between a quality, and a not-so-quality bonsai pot

My judgement goes as far as "Oh, that looks nice"

I was taught by an old friend whom had a bonsai nursery in the Perth area many moons ago. At that time it was the only Bonsai specialist nursery in the state.
Having that honour, he was allowed to buy from all pot sellers as there was no competition.
He wanted to know the same how to tell quality from crap.
What he was told was quite amusing it entailed a certain act of putting ones tounge on the surface of the pot, gently and feeling for the draw on the tounge.
I laughed too then on the QT tried it.
I have pots that I know are quality and also not so and using this method, it does work have I proven this to myself.
So after saying this you all wish to have a laugh here they are . It does work. Cheers Pup The bottom of the glazed one
We still need to ask at what temp it was fired? is it stoneware or terracotta. Is it porous?, not needed in Australia but will it crack if frozen ( unless you are in the mountains where you get frozen out)
Cheers Pup

That hilarious Pup! But if its works then why not One of the tricks of the trade I guess!
I couldn't see myself walking around a shop doing it, but would be a good way to tell on my own pots

[Jarad]

thanks Pup!

Nate love it.

Why couldn't we have started this thread tomorrow night, now everyone is going to be licking everything tomorrow...

[Josh]

Tickle me curious also

I'd love to know how to tell the difference between a quality, and a not-so-quality bonsai pot

My judgement goes as far as "Oh, that looks nice"

I was taught by an old friend whom had a bonsai nursery in the Perth area many moons ago. At that time it was the only Bonsai specialist nursery in the state.
Having that honour, he was allowed to buy from all pot sellers as there was no competition.
He wanted to know the same how to tell quality from crap.
What he was told was quite amusing it entailed a certain act of putting ones tounge on the surface of the pot, gently and feeling for the draw on the tounge.
I laughed too then on the QT tried it.
I have pots that I know are quality and also not so and using this method, it does work have I proven this to myself.
So after saying this you all wish to have a laugh here they are . It does work. Cheers Pup The bottom of the glazed one
We still need to ask at what temp it was fired? is it stoneware or terracotta. Is it porous?, not needed in Australia but will it crack if frozen ( unless you are in the mountains where you get frozen out)
Cheers Pup

This reminds me of being in Andamooka (opal mining town SA). The locals told us not to catch opal fever. When looking for opal and good way to show the opal up in the dust and dirt is to wet it. You take a spray bottle with you when looking for opal and spray the rocks you think might have opal in them. The slightest sliver of opal will show up when wet. Anyway after about a month or so of crawling around mounds of dirt we were out one evening and found a couple of nice pieces of opal, we were on a roll. Suddenly our water ran out we were in a good spot and hopeful of a big find. Next I find myself licking rocks, I look at my wife and yell.....Oh no, I have opal fever. This is what the locals were talking about
Pup, I would say you have pot fever

Josh

[Pup]

Tickle me curious also

I'd love to know how to tell the difference between a quality, and a not-so-quality bonsai pot

My judgement goes as far as "Oh, that looks nice"

I was taught by an old friend whom had a bonsai nursery in the Perth area many moons ago. At that time it was the only Bonsai specialist nursery in the state.
Having that honour, he was allowed to buy from all pot sellers as there was no competition.
He wanted to know the same how to tell quality from crap.
What he was told was quite amusing it entailed a certain act of putting ones tounge on the surface of the pot, gently and feeling for the draw on the tounge.
I laughed too then on the QT tried it.
I have pots that I know are quality and also not so and using this method, it does work have I proven this to myself.
So after saying this you all wish to have a laugh here they are . It does work. Cheers Pup The bottom of the glazed one
We still need to ask at what temp it was fired? is it stoneware or terracotta. Is it porous?, not needed in Australia but will it crack if frozen ( unless you are in the mountains where you get frozen out)
Cheers Pup

This reminds me of being in Andamooka (opal mining town SA). The locals told us not to catch opal fever. When looking for opal and good way to show the opal up in the dust and dirt is to wet it. You take a spray bottle with you when looking for opal and spray the rocks you think might have opal in them. The slightest sliver of opal will show up when wet. Anyway after about a month or so of crawling around mounds of dirt we were out one evening and found a couple of nice pieces of opal, we were on a roll. Suddenly our water ran out we were in a good spot and hopeful of a big find. Next I find myself licking rocks, I look at my wife and yell.....Oh no, I have opal fever. This is what the locals were talking about
Pup, I would say you have pot fever

Josh

I also have some very fine quality pots.